New evidence in the Apple-Samsung patent trial bolstered a widespread suspicion: this case might as well be called Apple v. Google.

Apple on Tuesday introduced a deposition by Google lawyer James Maccoun, who verified emails that the search giant had offered to cover some of Samsung’s legal costs and agreed to foot some of the damages if the Korean electronics giant lost.

Google’s legal protection pertained to two of the five patents asserted by Apple in this case. Apple is seeking $2.2 billion from Samsung for infringing those five patents. Samsung has countered by saying that Apple infringed two of its patents and is seeking $7 million.

The deep links between Google and Samsung are not surprising. Earlier in the trial, Samsung has said that four of the five patents Apple is asserting were covered by Google’s work on the Android operating system and Google engineers testified on Samsung’s behalf during the trial to counter Apple’s claims. Samsung is the biggest manufacturer of smartphones and tablets running Android.

In the deposition, Maccoun confirmed that Google agreed to help defend Samsung against some intellectual property claims as part of the “Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA)” between the two companies. This agreement allows Samsung to use Google applications on its devices.

The deposition was introduced by Apple to refute an earlier statement by Samsung saying that it was not seeking indemnification from Google in Sept. 2012 for the patents in question. This deposition authenticated emails from April 2012 of Samsung discussing indemnification terms with Google.

Introducing the deposition was a slight departure from Apple’s legal strategy so far in the trial, which is taking place in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. Throughout the trial, Apple’s lawyers had been downplaying Google’s role in the case, making clear that Samsung was the main party in this case.

Earlier on Tuesday, Apple defended itself against the two patents that Samsung is asserting by noting that the Korean firm had purchased the patents after the iPhone maker filed its first patent suit in 2011. Samsung has argued that it regularly acquires patents as part of building its intellectual property portfolio.